Speed and tactics make a difference. Recently, we were retained by Bay Area homeowners who had filed suit against their contractor, but whose attorney had done virtually nothing to pursue their case for over a year. As a result, the homeowners were only a month from trial, but no closer to resolution. They called us, and we leaped into action: We served a deposition notice and document requests on the contractor the same day we were retained, took up negotiations with the contractor's insurance counsel, and obtained just enough of an extension of the trial date to get the information we needed to develop our case, without taking the pressure off the defendant. Just six weeks after we were hired, we had a settlement -- without our clients ever being deposed, without extensive motion practice, and without the burden of trial. It's a nice little victory for some good people, and we're grateful we had the chance to be part of it.